Diary of a Racketaholic

Jack, as others have mentioned, you looked better in the latest video. more relaxed. nothing more that i can add than what's already been said. like PP & Gads have said, start your take back & racquet prep earlier and recover quicker. stay lighter on your feet by staying on your toes.

Are you a golfer? Because that's what i was thinking, too, before PP even mentioned it. The thing about holding onto the follow through and watching your shot for as long as you do, you end up giving your opponent a bigger window to then hit the ball back through. Gotta move those feet. If you really want to get into it, look up videos that concentrate on Fed's footwork. He's the very best at it -- whenever drawn out at all wide, his first couple steps back into the court are both immediate and effortless, and he's nearly always back in a very good position to grab that next ball. The best thing about watching Fed in person is the ability to just stare at his feet throughout some points. The dude simply floats, because his feet are always moving and not in any over-excerted way, just these little but constant baby steps

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yes I am a golfer..lol...maybe that's why I "hold the finish"? IDK.
Just another thing to work on

Ive been experimenting recently with LTEC 5S black at 46 in the mains and LTEC Premium Flex (black) at 50 in the crosses in the APD GT (prior version). Feels great. The cross string gives a nice flex to the stiff Aeropro. I will try this setup in the 2013 Aeropro which I preordered.

I preordered two Aeropros, one strung with RPM Blast mains at 46 and VS Touch (black) at 50m in the crosses (these strings were free when purchasing the racket due to a special offer from TW). The other racket I strung with the LTEC setup I just mentioned.

I think I can get the standard 8-10 hours out of a full job as long as its 16 gauge. Thats my guess. I think the Steam will be the tweener of the year. Factors into my prediction : Respected TW posters and testers are screaming about this thing like teenage girls at a Bieber concert. The specs are perfect with a SW that is healthy but won't scare off anyone who finds the Blade a little sluggish and playery. The wilson grip shape. The Pro Open could have been a tweener of the year except that it looked really bad and was not innovative. But anyone who used it was impressed, and you could tell Wilson was on to something. The Paint job is goat. A welcome change from the creepy original steam kaleidoscopic montage. Wilson seems to "get it" in regards to their new line. Blade PJs based on blacked out tester sticks? They clearly read these boards. Drakulie is either more insanely biased against Babolat than I thought possible, or his mind was really blown. He has some of the best strokes I have seen on TT, and they are pretty classic in some ways, so I am really interested that he was this blown away.

My club has a ball machine that will alternate..you may have a good chance of finding one up there.

hitting with the ball machine with my Juice 100. I turned up the speed this time. I couldn't out the camera behind me, so I used an angled front view.

Comments welcome.

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Jack, yeah, you look a little more chill in this one. But you still seem to be struggling with balance. And I think the reason why is that you are not doing recovery steps. You are essentially hitting the ball and then stopping, which forces you to balance on your front foot and try to deal with your body's rotational momentum in that position. A tough ask. It's like you're hitting and posing in that hitting position instead of flowing into recovery footwork.

For contrast, watch any snipet of a pro's practice or matchplay. You'll see that the rear (outside) foot goes somewhere after each ball is hit - it goes where it needs to in order to set up an acceleration of the body back towards the center of the court. To get a better understanding of recovery steps and how they relate to hitting stances, you might want to check out David Bailey's work on footwork, as essentially, IMHO, your balance issue is a footwork issue. Bailey has broken things down into a dozen or so "contact moves", which are the specific footwork/stances required to hit a ball from any location and contact height on the court. Each of these moves uses a particular step pattern to get into position to hit the ball, a particular stance to hit the ball from (open, semi-open, neutral) and the recovery step pattern that naturally follows from momentum "left over" after the hit that efficiently takes you back to the center of the court. The best way I know to get access to his work is to subscribe to tennisplayer.net for a month and read all of his articles there, which break down each of the contact moves with embedded pro video clips as illustrations.

Another resource you might want to look at are the posts of the TT poster "tricky". This guy is, in my opinion, the most useful person in the instruction forum, by a wide margin. He approaches technique from the footwork perspective, and says that most technique faults clean up only when the footwork is fixed.

Finally, getting back to David Bailey, the balls you're hitting in that video are landing at the service line and pretty much down the middle of the court. These are balls that must be hit aggressively in a match - they are short and at a perfect height for crushing. The footwork pattern that pros use to punish these balls is the first contact move that Bailey teaches, the Step Down. The step down has the front foot step forward, or down, into the court, in line with the rear foot, which puts you in neutral stance. After hitting the ball, your rotational momentum brings the rear foot around to the front/outside, which then plants and pushes off back to the center of the court, all in one smooth movement.

If I were practicing with your ball machine settings I would be split stepping, moving to the forehand ball, stepping into the court with front foot, hitting the forehand from neutral stance, stepping around with rear foot, pushing off that foot toward the center mark, shuffling to the center, split stepping again, moving to the backhand, stepping into the backhand, swinging the rear foot around, exploding off that foot toward the center, shuffling back, etc. Instead of thinking of the forehand as just a swing, the shot becomes part of a flowing movement pattern or dance.

If you watch someone like Fed, he will use the Step Down on any ball that gives him enough time - so basically any ball that lands short, bounces waist high, and doesn't require running from side to side. If the balls you see in matches are like the balls you are getting from your machine, you should also be hitting step down screamers into the corners on every shot. Trying to step down on every ball is a good way to develop active, positive, agressive footwork. You might not get to every ball in time to step into it, in which case you use a different contact move, but by trying to you will clean up your lazy footwork and solve your balance issues.

Played with the PureDrive (stiff for me but a fun ride) and demo'd the AeroGT (stiff and less substantial than the PD) but what of the PureStormGT(non-tour)?!??

Does it feel 63ra, less, more?

Always wondered why T-dub never reviewed this frame. Seems like every other frame has gotten a review, yet not one for the PureStormGT or any other iteration.

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Hit with this once and thought the feel was excellent. (Pure Storm line is where Babs actually have great feel). Felt less than 63, if anything. Nice and soft, but not overly flexy. If I remember correctly it seemed a bit underpowered, but again, I only had like 15 or 20 mins hitting with the frame. 16/20 string pattern is always gold, a perfect blend of spin and accuracy. All in all I recall thinking positively about the frame, thinking it could be something with just a touch of lead here and there for added plow.

Jack, yeah, you look a little more chill in this one. But you still seem to be struggling with balance. And I think the reason why is that you are not doing recovery steps. You are essentially hitting the ball and then stopping, which forces you to balance on your front foot and try to deal with your body's rotational momentum in that position. A tough ask. It's like you're hitting and posing in that hitting position instead of flowing into recovery footwork.

For contrast, watch any snipet of a pro's practice or matchplay. You'll see that the rear (outside) foot goes somewhere after each ball is hit - it goes where it needs to in order to set up an acceleration of the body back towards the center of the court. To get a better understanding of recovery steps and how they relate to hitting stances, you might want to check out David Bailey's work on footwork, as essentially, IMHO, your balance issue is a footwork issue. Bailey has broken things down into a dozen or so "contact moves", which are the specific footwork/stances required to hit a ball from any location and contact height on the court. Each of these moves uses a particular step pattern to get into position to hit the ball, a particular stance to hit the ball from (open, semi-open, neutral) and the recovery step pattern that naturally follows from momentum "left over" after the hit that efficiently takes you back to the center of the court. The best way I know to get access to his work is to subscribe to tennisplayer.net for a month and read all of his articles there, which break down each of the contact moves with embedded pro video clips as illustrations.

Another resource you might want to look at are the posts of the TT poster "tricky". This guy is, in my opinion, the most useful person in the instruction forum, by a wide margin. He approaches technique from the footwork perspective, and says that most technique faults clean up only when the footwork is fixed.

Finally, getting back to David Bailey, the balls you're hitting in that video are landing at the service line and pretty much down the middle of the court. These are balls that must be hit aggressively in a match - they are short and at a perfect height for crushing. The footwork pattern that pros use to punish these balls is the first contact move that Bailey teaches, the Step Down. The step down has the front foot step forward, or down, into the court, in line with the rear foot, which puts you in neutral stance. After hitting the ball, your rotational momentum brings the rear foot around to the front/outside, which then plants and pushes off back to the center of the court, all in one smooth movement.

If I were practicing with your ball machine settings I would be split stepping, moving to the forehand ball, stepping into the court with front foot, hitting the forehand from neutral stance, stepping around with rear foot, pushing off that foot toward the center mark, shuffling to the center, split stepping again, moving to the backhand, stepping into the backhand, swinging the rear foot around, exploding off that foot toward the center, shuffling back, etc. Instead of thinking of the forehand as just a swing, the shot becomes part of a flowing movement pattern or dance.

If you watch someone like Fed, he will use the Step Down on any ball that gives him enough time - so basically any ball that lands short, bounces waist high, and doesn't require running from side to side. If the balls you see in matches are like the balls you are getting from your machine, you should also be hitting step down screamers into the corners on every shot. Trying to step down on every ball is a good way to develop active, positive, agressive footwork. You might not get to every ball in time to step into it, in which case you use a different contact move, but by trying to you will clean up your lazy footwork and solve your balance issues.

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Great post corners, quality comments.

And BTW, I so agree re tricky. Some years ago he was one of my main reasons for being on TT. He is the tennis tips section guru. If anyone's ever bored or got a spare bit of time on their hands, do a search of tricky's old posts. He's the man.

You guys are right. The plan is to add some weight to the stick, at 11oz, it's a great building frame. Good to hear it feels softer.

Gotta admit, the only thing that's holding me back at this point is all the babolat 'horror stories'. You know the ones, '..my racquet broke in half on an overhead and the same thing happened to my friend... 5 times in the past 5 days!!!' :smile: .. the shotty QC... etc.,etc.

Corners not sure how I missed this super important post. This is exactly what I am going to be filming myself working on, and what I call "stepping in" on balls in the middle and short balls. Screw racquets, footwork is everything. You can waste your $$$ on a different racquet every month, but once you do all the proper footwork patterns you will be a far, far better player.

The main thing I noticed just focusing on my feet again was that since I spent so much time on the proper shoulder turn and hip drive, that once I was transferring weight into my shots properly the contact was incredibly consistent and I enjoyed the feel of my racquets even more.

This video right here is awesome. Shows the same stances I figured out to hit from on my own. Nice to see I am doing it right..lol.

And BTW, I so agree re tricky. Some years ago he was one of my main reasons for being on TT. He is the tennis tips section guru. If anyone's ever bored or got a spare bit of time on their hands, do a search of tricky's old posts. He's the man.

Corners not sure how I missed this super important post. This is exactly what I am going to be filming myself working on, and what I call "stepping in" on balls in the middle and short balls. Screw racquets, footwork is everything. You can waste your $$$ on a different racquet every month, but once you do all the proper footwork patterns you will be a far, far better player.

The main thing I noticed just focusing on my feet again was that since I spent so much time on the proper shoulder turn and hip drive, that once I was transferring weight into my shots properly the contact was incredibly consistent and I enjoyed the feel of my racquets even more.

This video right here is awesome. Shows the same stances I figured out to hit from on my own. Nice to see I am doing it right..lol.

Yeah, good vid. I think just being aware, conceptually, of the contact moves Bailey teaches is really helpful. You start seeing them every time you watch a match or highlights (and notice that you're not seeing them on the rec courts :cry: ) . But incorporating them consciously into shadow work is rad. I do the shadow moves as a routine to warm up before practice and sometimes whilst out on a walk sans racquet - walking down a path, start feeling frisky, and then boom - step down, step down, front foot hop, front foot hop...LOL Doing them up a hill is also a really good workout!

Agreed: racquets are super dooper cool, of course, but technique, bal contact and footwork are cooler.

Just noticed in another thread that our favorite 5.0, Chris Edwards, is hitting the venerable PS 6.0 95 these days, working it in with another classic, the C10 Pro. Any of you guys ever hit extensively with the 6.0 95?

Just noticed in another thread that our favorite 5.0, Chris Edwards, is hitting the venerable PS 6.0 95 these days, working it in with another classic, the C10 Pro. Any of you guys ever hit extensively with the 6.0 95?

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Yep, loved it too. When I first came back to tennis I used it for about a year until I fell in love with Fischer products. The only thing negative was that I at that point really didn't feel comfortable enough on court to swing it with the sufficient racquet head speed. I probably should revisit it now. It was beautiful for a little serve and volley.

Seriously, there's plenty in this area I need to get to grips with. Any other basic info in this regard, links, etc, do post it up.

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Honestly that video is everything you need to start with in addition to corners 1st post. too much info will be a bad thing. Just start with the basic step down I am working on, with the video linked by corners..hell, start with the split step and turn. Are you doing that right every single time? I had a bad habit of turning to my backhand in a closed stance, which is wrong and causes issues immediately. It's "ready steps, split step, step out".

I love how his footwork is focused on the recovery step. That is how you know you are doing it right.

Seriously, there's plenty in this area I need to get to grips with. Any other basic info in this regard, links, etc, do post it up.

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Yeah, PP and PED have got it. But if you want to break it down with more images, Bailey's article series on tennisplayer.net is pretty awesome, especially if you've never subscribed to that site before, as it is a veritable mine of technical gold nuggets. The articles there are chock full of embedded videos of all your favorite pros. I'm a firm believer of visual learning in tennis, and seeing all those guys and gals doing what's being described is pretty valuable, IMHO. A one month subsciption is pretty reasonable. (One of the reasons I've found tricky's posts so useful is that he uses visual imagery cues, which for me just click into place on court in a way that the traditional tennis "tip" doesn't.)

Okay, step down motion, ready steps, split step, stepping out etc - this is where I'm going to be focussing... incidentally, this should be easier as the fact I'm only bringing my J100's at least removes the element of racketaholic considerations/distractions.

Just noticed in another thread that our favorite 5.0, Chris Edwards, is hitting the venerable PS 6.0 95 these days, working it in with another classic, the C10 Pro. Any of you guys ever hit extensively with the 6.0 95?

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Stands up to many modern stick. The feel and the specs are just in my wheel house and i've hit with it quite a couple of times recently. Its almost my dream stick. It has just a tiny bit more pop then my rebels and is just as quick through the contact.

Legendary stick imo. I'd praise it more, but i've been looking to get my hands on a few. soo... ITS SUCKS DONT BUY IT. :twisted:

Yeah, PP and PED have got it. But if you want to break it down with more images, Bailey's article series on tennisplayer.net is pretty awesome, especially if you've never subscribed to that site before, as it is a veritable mine of technical gold nuggets. The articles there are chock full of embedded videos of all your favorite pros. I'm a firm believer of visual learning in tennis, and seeing all those guys and gals doing what's being described is pretty valuable, IMHO. A one month subsciption is pretty reasonable. (One of the reasons I've found tricky's posts so useful is that he uses visual imagery cues, which for me just click into place on court in a way that the traditional tennis "tip" doesn't.)

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X 2 on being a fan of visual learning - although the right verbal imagery or 'cue', as tricky was often in the habit of imparting - can just really be most effective.

TBH, I'm subscribed to loads of stuff via youtube (varies in quality and clogs up my mail something terrible hahah) and I'm really an indiscriminate "checker outer" of a ton of random tennis stuff up there. I've also been checking out a lot of Jeff Salzenstein's vids of late (I just like his style). I do like this general aspect though and always have done, so, yes... food for thought re tennis.player.net.

So I tried Lux 4G tonight for the first time. Certainly a nice string but not really a vast improvement over Lux Original, my current favorite string. Two things I noticed: the 4G stringbed feels a touch stiffer than Original in the same racket, although I had it strung a good bit lower. And I was also getting a lower ball trajectory with it. Both strings feel plenty comfortable for me in the EXO, 4G might have a slight edge when it comes to power. Control is top-notch with both. Gonna stay with BBO for now and maybe take a second look at Tour Bite.

Glad to see my bad footwork has started this good footwork revolution amongst you fellow holics. Corners was spot on in his observation. I went back and rewatched my last vid and my rear foot is NOT coming around at all...hence the off balance and slow recovery. Be on the lookout for a "new and improved" Jack coming soon to a YouTube near you!

So I tried Lux 4G tonight for the first time. Certainly a nice string but not really a vast improvement over Lux Original, my current favorite string. Two things I noticed: the 4G stringbed feels a touch stiffer than Original in the same racket, although I had it strung a good bit lower. And I was also getting a lower ball trajectory with it. Both strings feel plenty comfortable for me in the EXO, 4G might have a slight edge when it comes to power. Control is top-notch with both. Gonna stay with BBO for now and maybe take a second look at Tour Bite.

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4G holds tension MUCH better than BBO so it's a great cross to use in gut/poly hybrids.

Glad to see my bad footwork has started this good footwork revolution amongst you fellow holics. Corners was spot on in his observation. I went back and rewatched my last vid and my rear foot is NOT coming around at all...hence the off balance and slow recovery. Be on the lookout for a "new and improved" Jack coming soon to a YouTube near you!

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off balance is due to footwork (rear foot not coming around) and the slow recovery is the result of holding your finish position too long.

Stands up to many modern stick. The feel and the specs are just in my wheel house and i've hit with it quite a couple of times recently. Its almost my dream stick. It has just a tiny bit more pop then my rebels and is just as quick through the contact.

Legendary stick imo. I'd praise it more, but i've been looking to get my hands on a few. soo... ITS SUCKS DONT BUY IT. :twisted:

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LOL, I'll only buy the ridiculously overpriced ones and leave the epic bargain auctions to you.

More Baily method (I'm hooked now and will look up all the stuff I can). Now, some may even view this as a bit much for a little kid in some respects, whatever, this eight-year old can coach me any day.

Just noticed in another thread that our favorite 5.0, Chris Edwards, is hitting the venerable PS 6.0 95 these days, working it in with another classic, the C10 Pro. Any of you guys ever hit extensively with the 6.0 95?

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Used a 6.0 95 exclusively for over 20yrs, wouldn't want anything else. But now I have only 1 usable frame left (sniffle).

While getting gas, I realize it is the 99, NOT the 99s. The pattern was rather open on the 99, and the specs felt perfect. So I am excited about that. It came through the air like the Blade, just a bit faster. Balance felt the same..everything.

Unfortunately they screwed up and the 99S was gone. Well until it comes back in a few days, and it's mine. they felt bad, and handed me this:

The 105s. A letdown, but I still have an S stick to try at least. The main letdown is just how light it feels. I am considering slapping a little lead on at 12, but I can't find specs anywhere so that could be a shot in the dark. I really like the weight class of the apd and blade, so going lighter is going to result in some fluffy balls I am guessing. Regardless the spin should be hilarious, and I am hoping a mega slice and dice guy is up there tonight, as he hits with a similar weighted OS stick and is all about spin. It will be fun to see what he can do with it when I am not using it.

PP, one quick question, did you find any real difference between your pd2012 and the new apd?

They've got a sweet deal on the pd's locally and I can save some major coin so if there's no big difference, I figure why not.

I never found much of a diff in the past between my leaded apd's and the pdr FWIW.

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Yes, the PD felt better to me and also swung lighter. I hated the PD stock, but could play the APD stock. you will probably have to lead up the PD, and it probably will aggravate the shoulder tissue so I'd think about it.

PP, here are the only specs I could find from another site. Not sure how the SW figure translates - is this saying that the SW on the 105 is in the 330s? ... At least it's two more points HL. Anyway, there's one dude in the "Home Run" thread that seemed to prefer the 105 to the 99. Who knows.

Day 3 seems to done the trick. I took off the rubberband dampener and instantly got a good deal more feedback that I was missing.

It was like my first time driving a 911 and discovering what that extra half inch of throttle would do when you pinned it to the floor .

Either way, nice to have the extended demo time to make up my mind but I can tell you that as of last monday, I had NO interest in changing.

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yeah, i preferred JGad's demo without the dampener, too. like you, the more time i spent with it, the better it felt and played. i hate to say it as well, but i'm considering this stick, too, assuming my shoulder and wrist are up to the task.

I decided for now to play it stock and just see what happens. It will be a slight pain to switch back to the blade, but ill live.

My brief fling with the 99 dry swinging it and holding it was very very positive. It feels much more substantial than the APDC in hand. I am pretty sure the only difference in the S is the drill pattern. I have a really good feeling that the Babs may lose a bunch of sales this year to the Steam. It most likely is going to give more spin and all signs point to it having that wilson feel that makes the Blades feel so much sweeter than they should be at that weight.

I wasn't crazy about that footwork series with Yan. I never see any Pros using the "walking step" or the "hopping step". I think Baileys stuff is more relatable

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when the pro's execute the walking step and hopping step they do it very quickly and smoothly and it's used in conjunction w/ other footwork patterns so it's easy to overlook, but they do use it. Yan breaks it down very deliberately for instructional purposes so it's easy to follow. Yann covers quite of bit in that video so there's other good stuff to take away from it like the "cross step", the "pivot step", the "inside step", and the "karaoke step" which pros use all the time. i see the "pivot step" being applicable to you. you could benefit from it since it helps you recover quickly after you hit your stroke. but that's cool if you find Bailey's more relevant for you. whatever works and helps.

i've generally placed more focus on strings and tension rather than racquets in the past. when it came to racquets, i was more interested in collecting older frames. after hitting w/ the 2013 APD GT, i've got to admit i'm rather excited about the new racquet releases. the Steam 99S has definitely piqued my interest.

PP, here are the only specs I could find from another site. Not sure how the SW figure translates - is this saying that the SW on the 105 is in the 330s? ... At least it's two more points HL. Anyway, there's one dude in the "Home Run" thread that seemed to prefer the 105 to the 99. Who knows.

99S
Head Size: 99 sq. in.

Length: 27″

Strung Weight: 11.3 oz/320 g

Balance: 2pts. HL

Swingweight: 10.2 oz/304 g

String Pattern: 16 mains x 15 crosses

105S
Head Size: 105 sq. in.

Length: 27.5″

Strung Weight: 10.8 oz/305 g

Balance: 4 pts. HL

Swingweight: 10.8 oz/305 g

String Pattern: 16 mains x 15 crosses

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I think the swingweights above are rubbish. Drak measured the 99S at 325, and that's kg*cm^2, not grams. Just a punt, but I bet the 105S is in the 305-310 range which would make it match other frames in that weight class (Pure Drive, et al.)

when the pro's execute the walking step and hopping step they do it very quickly and smoothly and it's used in conjunction w/ other footwork patterns so it's easy to overlook, but they do use it more. Yan breaks it down very deliberately for instructional purposes so it's easy to follow. Yann covers quite of bit in that video so there's other good stuff to take away from it. but that's cool if you find Bailey's more relevant for you. whatever works and helps.

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It's been awhile since I watched those Yann videos, but if I remember right his hopping step is the same as what Bailey calls "front foot hop".

Federer does the walking step sometimes when moving into the court on short balls to his forehand. He does it like a forward cross-over with his right foot crossing over into the court, he then sits and lifts off that right foot as he brings his left foot forward, and then cracks the ball. From there the footwork looks just like the front-foot hop, with a hop off the left foot followed by the right foot swinging around behind for balance as the COM moves into the court. Laver used to do this too.

I think Bailey would characterize the walking step as an out step variation prior to the actual front foot hop contact move.

yeah, i preferred JGad's demo without the dampener, too. like you, the more time i spent with it, the better it felt and played. i hate to say it as well, but i'm considering this stick, too, assuming my shoulder and wrist are up to the task.

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I pulled the pin on a pd2012 just now. I couldn't pass up the price: $110 new. If I hate it I can flip it with little loss. Full TB at 45/44 should make it easier on the shoulder as well.

The stringbed really came alive without the damp on it and my shots were causing my partner more trouble: I felt like I was able to do more with less effort which is the whole point of the Bab I guess